Floating power supplies have application in data acquisition operations. In order to protect sensitive input circuits from extraneous noise and voltages during operation in a noisy environment, various data acquisition circuits have been devised which provide electrical “isolation” between the noisy environment and the input circuitry. In effect such data acquisition devices allow an input circuit to electrically “float” with respect to the electrical circuit ground in the noisy environment while measuring the desired signal developed across the sensing element. Therefore the input circuitry can measure the desired signal but is unaffected by transients and extraneous noise. However, the “floating” side of the board still needs to communicate with the low voltage computer or control side of the board and power needs to be provided to the “floating” side. In one approach the floating power supply has a negative rail and a positive rail and the rail to rail voltage must exceed the range of the expected data input signal. Typically an available voltage such as +5 volts has to be isolated through a transformer, optoisolator, or other device then stepped up to +15 volts and then converted to provide −15 volts. With typical efficiencies of 20%, 95% and 80%, for example, the overall efficiency to obtain the +15 volt rail to rail is a little better than 15%. The charge pumps, switching regulators or whatever is used to produce the enlarged rail to rail voltage results in large area and power requirements. Further, negative rail low currents, inversely, require large inductors also increasing area and power requirements. In addition, the power supply range is not centered or balanced on the data acquisition signal and so any attenuators needed to reduce the signal level to accommodate subsequent components, e.g. analog to digital converters must be relatively large.